Edler Hawkins civil activist with his ministry

Edler G. Hawkins

Date:

Sat, 1908-06-13

Edler Garnett Hawkins was born on this date in 1908. He was an African American minister and civil rights activist through the Presbyterian Church.

Hawkins, born in the Bronx, New York, was the son of Albert and Annie Lee Hawkins. He received his bachelor of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in 1938. Hawkins became the first pastor of Saint Augustine Presbyterian Church in the Bronx. In 1964, he became the first African-American moderator of the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church. As a member of the Presbyterian Interracial Council, Hawkins promoted involvement in the Civil Rights Movement.

He retired in 1970 to join the faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary as professor of Black studies. Edler Hawkins died on December 18, 1977.